An open top bus stopped in front of the "painted ladies" Victorian home attraction on the east side of Alamo Square. Some tour buses have been "misbehaving" around the popular tourist attraction at Alamo Square in San Francisco, Calif.

Photo: Brant Ward, The Chronicle

An open top bus stopped in front of the "painted ladies" Victorian...

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A large open top tour bus drove slowly on Steiner Street on the east side of Alamo Square. Some tour buses have been "misbehaving" around the popular tourist attraction at Alamo Square in San Francisco, Calif.

Many of the huge, rumbling private buses that schlep tourists past San Francisco's Alamo Square Park snarl traffic, double-park, block driveways and blast neighbors with noise, ruining the postcard-perfect serenity they hope to show their passengers.

The city's Board of Supervisors passed legislation this week to limit the noise from open-top buses. Under the new law, the guides' running commentary cannot be heard from more than 50 feet away.

But neighbors say that won't solve their problems with the increasing number of 40-foot buses trying to squeeze through the historic district's narrow streets.

In order to show their customers the six Painted Ladies homes along Steiner Street, private tour buses constantly stop in Muni bus stops or in the middle of the block in violation of state law. Others have scraped parked cars as they try to make tight corners, neighbors and officials say.

Other tourist-heavy neighborhoods like Fisherman's Wharf have problems with the private buses. But unlike those areas, residential Alamo Square has no designated tour bus loading zones, so buses simply stop and let people off midblock, blocking traffic. They also cause traffic delays by glacially crawling over the Hayes Street hill so their passengers can snap a photo.

Part of the problem, Chronicle Watch has learned, is that several agencies have oversight authority: The city Department of Public Health oversees noise violations from the buses' loudspeakers; the Municipal Transportation Agency oversees parking violations; and the Police Department must enforce moving violations.

Because tour buses tend to be from out of town and drive across county lines, it's hard for city agencies to crack down. All tour buses are registered through the state Public Utilities Commission.

Neighbors and officials agree that the worst offenders are usually a small portion of all tour buses. Some of the bus companies and tour groups from out of town don't know the rules or don't care to follow them.

A group of about 10 San Francisco tour bus companies have banded together into the San Francisco Tour Operators Association in a good-faith effort to prove that local operators want to balance good business with good neighborly practices, said Craig Vandermause, the organization's president.

Those companies pledged several weeks ago to cut down on the number of daily trips through Alamo Square from around 120 to 40, but Vandermause couldn't elaborate on how each company would change its route.

"We want to play nice in the sandbox with everyone," Vandermause said. "But we need to have access to certain areas the city has to offer."

The MTA currently blocks some streets to tour buses, and it is considering expanding that tactic to calm traffic near Alamo Square Park as well.

Vandermause wants the city to paint a bus zone near the park to accommodate tour buses.

City transportation officials also want to consolidate the agencies that regulate tour bus operations, but so far there is no firm plan to do so.

What's not working

The issue: Tour buses near Alamo Square Park flout the rules and double-park, park in bus stops and blare their loudspeakers.

What's been done: Legislation to curb loudspeakers was passed Tuesday by the S.F. Board of Supervisors. The law goes into effect Oct. 1. Still, many other tour bus-related problems remain, and a hodgepodge of agencies are in charge of enforcing the rules.

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